Jesse Iwuji, when is it time for NASCAR to step in?

By Colby Evans

Jesse Iwuji recently caused more outrage in the racing community, stemming from an incident at the recent Portland Xfinity race involving Jesse and then race-leader Ty Gibbs.

Iwuji, who had been consistently five or more seconds off the pace, was getting lapped by then race-leader Ty Gibbs when a caution had come out.

However, going into Turn 1, Iwuji slammed into the No. 54 of Gibbs, sending him spinning in the first chicane. Luckily, no severe damage was done to either entry. 

The TV commentators were very hard on Iwuji, with one commentator saying “What the hell was he thinking?”

Iwuji was then penalized two laps for the incident and would finish 26th in the event, while Gibbs climbed back up to seventh.

Iwuji would later post a statement to twitter apologizing to the No. 54 team for causing the incident and giving his side of the story, that as he was getting lapped the caution came out and race-control instructed Jesse to go ahead of Gibbs.

However, Iwuji didn’t expect Gibbs to cut Turn 1 so sharply after the caution had come out and they collided. Iwuji finished his statement once again apologizing for the incident.

The incident as a whole caused immediate outrage online with many fans saying NASCAR should step in or Jesse should be moved back down to a lower series to improve his driving.

While Iwuji is regarded as one of the nicest people on and off-track, this isn’t his first issue that has caused some outrage. Earlier this season at Las Vegas, Iwuji who at the time was over 20 laps down to the leaders, spun in the race, and collected several drivers out who were battling on track for position, totaling all three cars.

Whether it’s crashing or being very off the pace, Jesse Iwuji has caused quite the stir in the racing community, so it begs the question, is it time for NASCAR to step in and do something about this?

I can look at it from both sides, yes Jesse is a rookie in the Xfinity Series, he still has a lot to learn. But the other side could argue that Jesse has over 50 NASCAR starts from the lower divisions up to the Xfinity series and should have more speed by this point.

Both sides can have clear arguments, but at the end of the day it’s NASCAR that has the final decision, and for now Jesse will continue his part-time driving duties in the top divisions of NASCAR.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.